Beneath The Waves

Sirens

Camila

The captain wakes up to a sound so sweet, she gets out of the bed instantly. The sounds draw her like a magnet. She pulls on and buttons a fresh poet shirt before leaving her cabin; clad in said shirt, trousers, and brown boots she slipped on last minute.

It's like the candy—sweet and leaving her wanting more. She can't quite make out what the noises are saying but they sound familiar. Camila looks around herself. No one else seems to be distracted by the humming—they're all wearing weird stuff in their ears.

Camila walks to the side of the ship, grabbing the wood as she leans over to hear it. Soft music plays in her ears and bounces around her head like a pinball machine. Then she hears it: Lauren's voice within the tune.

"Camila! Help me!"

Almost instinctively, the captain's eyes scour over the waves below them. Her heart is pounding so quickly in her chest, she cannot breathe or keep up with her thoughts that seem to be dwindling away with every note.

"Come this way! Toward the rocks!" Lauren begs, her voice echoing up from somewhere Camila can't see or find.

Camila runs up to Normani who is steering the ship with what looks to be wax in her ears. "Mani, you need to let me steer. This is urgent."

"What? I can't hear you, Captain." Normani shouts to the girl, trying to understand what she is asking for. "No, I'm steering right now. Sirens!"

Furrowing her eyebrows, she looks blankly at the navigator. Sirens? No, that's Lauren. Before she has the chance to rationalize her thoughts, Lauren's voice fills her ears again, forcefully dragging her away from Normani. It takes ahold of her.

"I came back for you, Camila. Because I love you and I regret not kissing you goodbye." Even though it's Lauren's voice, something in Camila is telling her that isn't something Lauren would say. Yet she's compelled to the side of the ship.

"It was my fault!" The captain yells into the open ocean, grasping onto the sideboard tightly. She sways roughly with the ship and the wind whips her hair messily, but she doesn't go to fix it. "I made a stupid mistake!"

No one really seems to notice the strange behavior of their captain, except Lucy who is coming up from gunner deck. She spots Camila near the side of the boat, wind-blown hair all over her face and a grief-stricken expression. She freezes to watch.

"Show me. Come here." Lauren taunts from below the boat. Camila feels her chest tense at the idea of losing this chance, tears of panic start to well up in her eyes.

"I can't see you!"

"Come down here."

Lifting one leg over the sideboard, she jumps into the ocean many, many feet below.

"Holy shit." Lucy says, although no one around her can hear her. She can't move. She's briefly paralyzed from the scene she just witnessed. "Holy fuck."

Camila plunges into the icy ocean, smacking into the water at such a fast speed, it knocks her unconscious. Everything fades away from the girl as she gently sinks into its depths.

——

Lucy

"Holy fuck."

Breaking out of her frozen-like state, she immediately swings around and grabs the closest person next to her. It happens to be Ally.

"Camila jumped overboard!" She yells, hopefully maybe by chance the boatswain will hear her.